A lot of Macca fans have expressed dissatisfaction with the song selection for the forthcoming “Pure McCartney” career retrospective, noting that the 67-song lineup has serious omissions and doesn’t accurately reflect Paul McCartney’s entire solo career. Beatlefan Contributing Editor Tom Frangione offers an alternative listing of essential Macca tracks. …

OK, I promised I wouldn’t do this, but the panel discussion at last week’s Fest for Beatles Fans changed my mind. Consensus was that a comprehensive retrospective covering his ENTIRE post-Beatles career was in order. And, let’s face it, 67 tracks isn’t going to get it done, considering how prolific Paul has been over the past 46 years. So, the forthcoming “Pure McCartney” set seemed doomed out of the gate.

There’s nothing new for the devoted fans, it’s missing numerous big hits, and it is horrifically short (barely room for one track per year!), so I took a stab at a nice round number — 100 songs. Even that proved to be a challenge, as my first pass of things I’d consider for inclusion numbered over 130 out of the nearly 500 or so titles he’s put out during this time (this is to say nothing of the special projects, classical works, live versions and alternate mixes).

But, I whittled it down to 100. I steered clear of the live albums (except where there was a hit, like “Maybe I’m Amazed”), but included some live B-sides, singles, etc. And I did pinch one each from the covers albums (“Run Devil Run,” “Kisses on the Bottom” and the Russian album), as well as tossing in an original from the two that had a few sprinkled among the covers.

For collectors: My list has one unreleased (on record, anyway) title, but also several from soundtracks and things that never made it on to a McCartney album proper, a couple of which never came out in America at all..

And, yes, I know the opening cut was on the “Beatles Anthology,” but it’s a solo McCartney track in every sense of the word (it didn’t even get the “Lennon-McCartney” rubber stamp of the day).

I kept it pretty much chronological, because a good retrospective should be. I did move the Christmas record to the very end, as a de facto “bonus” track rounding out the 100

Occasional DJ edits or single versions made it in there, too, including one where Paul is credited as co-artist, which never made it on to a McCartney album

All the hits are there, and a few guilty pleasure/personal favorites round things out.

Anyway … It’s pretty much a certainty, at least mathematically, that no two McCartney fans would pick the same roster in an exercise like this. Crossover would be heavy, of course, and there are many such lists floating all over the websites as I type this. Heck, one pirate label (Voo Doo Records) already beat the upcoming release to market, with a 6-disc (125 song) version. And so it goes.

So, here’s what I came up with. 100 songs. Pure McCartney. Hope you dig it!

DISC FOUR: Back on My Feet * Once Upon a Long Ago * My Brave Face * Put It There * This One * That Day Is Done * Twenty Flight Rock * All My Trials (live) * In Liverpool * Off the Ground * Hope of Deliverance * The World Tonight * Young Boy * Calico Skies * Little Willow * Beautiful Night * I Got Stung * What It Is * Vanilla Sky * From a Lover to a Friend * Freedom * Tropic Island Hum

Thanks Randy. Certainly a valid point. I was “thisclose” to doing just that. But wanted that one up toward the top to represent the release of the “song” if not the record. For that matter, it was hard to not use the studio version, but thought the live “hit” needed to be in there. Cheers –
Tom

Thanks Mary Ann. “Wonderful Christmastime” seems to be one of those “love it or hate it” songs among Paul fans. I happen to be in the former camp (love it), especially when it’s done live, stripped of all the studio effects. I got to see him do it at the Apollo a few years back, and it was an absolute highlight of the set. That said, it was a UK top-10 record in 1979, so it really should be on any comprehensive retrospective of his, in my opinion. Cheers ! Tom

I would leave off “Ebony and Ivory,” one of those squirm-inducing songs for me. And I really don’t like listening to Christmas music except during that season, so that would not make the cut either. I would think the live unreleased “1882” would certainly fit….but your list is much better than Paul’s. For sure.

So many songs! Hard for anyone to agree on any content this compilation could have had (and I’m sure we all have our own favourites) but sInce it’s called Pure McCartney I would have treated this release as a chance to replace some ‘hits’ (available on other available compilations) with more deep cuts and B sides. The point being to also cover more ground into McCartney’s career away from the (70s/80s) hits. So in this new proposal for a more accurate content reflecting McCartney’s career I personally find weak material like Give Ireland To The Irish, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and In Liverpool as well as rock’n’roll covers, some film songs (The Frog Chorus, Tropical Island Hum, Twice in a Lifetime…) and the forgettable Wonderful Christmastime (sorry! 🙂 ) are taking precious space that could be given to more interesting album tracks or B sides…
Live cuts kill the flow too, particularly when there are studio counterparts that are as good (Maybe I’m Amazed). Also, The Girl is Mine is a Michael Jackson song, McCartney had nothing to do with the writing of it and it was released by Jackson’s on his own album, McCartney was just invited to sing on it so technically it is not part of his solo output. Plus he has always criticised the lyrics…
Anyway, I now you can’t please everyone (i got carried away on disc 3, probably too many tracks!)

DISC FOUR: Back on My Feet (b side) * Once Upon a Long Ago * My Brave Face * Flying to my Home (b side) * Put It There * This One * That Day Is Done * Summertime * All My Trials (live) * Off the Ground * Hope of Deliverance * Come on People * Kicked Around No More (b side) * The Songs We Were Singing * Someday * Little Willow * Beautiful Night * I Got Stung * Vanilla Sky

DISC FIVE: * From a Lover to a Friend (mix) * She’s Given up Talking * Back in the Sunshine Again * How Kind of You * Jenny Wren * English Tea * This Never Happened Before * I Want you to Fly (b side) * Dance Tonight * Ever Present Past * Mr Bellamy * That Was Me * The End of the End * (I Want To) Come Home * My Valentine * Save Us * Early Days * New * Everybody Out There * Scared (secret track)

I think I prefer this selection. I’m not sure what I’d add or change. Too much of Pure is already on Wings Greatest, Wingspan, All the Best etc. However I have bought both versions of Pure. A nice addition would have been the 15 advertising jingles for Ram issued on Brung to Ewe. Perhaps Paul might consider collecting all those tracks not on any cd like Give Ireland (version), All Stand Together (Humming version) etc. With tracks from the proposed Cold Cuts.

Some interesting choices in there. As I noted, I was shooting for a definitive career overview – I guess thinking Wings Greatest, All The Best and Wingspan would go away. That said, I wanted to have all the hits in there, and a few that you might remanded to the cutting room floor are kinda/sorta “important”: Rockestra won a Grammy, and Vanilla Sky was nominated for an Oscar. So interesting to see everyone’s preferences … it speaks to the depth of this amazing catalog. Thanks ! Tom

Way better comp, Tom! Somebody at MPL ought to wake up and give the fans a “definitive” McCartney collection. One of the best bits of your collection is the gathering of most if not all of the stray tracks. Great job.

Thoughtful (and fun) alternative. Thanks, Tom. Everyone has favorites so I’m not going to argue specific selections (OK, one. I know it was a single but I think we’d all be just fine without hearing Freedom again.). Instead, I pulled a Tom Frangione and compared number of tracks taken from specific albums. I was quite surprised to see Band on the Run so under represented with just 2. (Defining Helen Wheels as a BOR track helps, but that’s only US). In particular I was surprised that you included more tracks from Venus and Mars (6) and Red Rose Speedway (4) – wasn’t BOR the COMEBACK from RRS? Anyway, a good topic that we’ll all pick up at the Chicago Fest for Beatles Fans … coming up faster than we think.

Thanks Wally. For the record, I echo your comments on “Freedom” and used the 2:36 “edit” 🙂 As for the dearth from BOTR …. I do include “Helen Wheels”, so lets call it three. What made BOTR so great, in my opinion, is that is was consistent. No duds. Frankly, I’d have put most of that album (and Tug of War, for that matter on there) but there was just no room at the inn. To illustrate the point on consistency .. the four I pulled from “Red Rose” were from one of his very best album SIDES, top to bottom. Side two was infinitely weaker. Hence, it’s an “ok” album (or more correctly … “half a great album”. As always, I welcome a side by side list of 100 from Wally World. Cheers, mate – TF

I commend Tom for going against every fiber in his being and NOT including “How Kind Are You” — because I know him, and I know he would’ve put that on if he could — but “Summer Of ’59” was more deserving and I’m happy it made his cut. The thing, is the “box set” is the “box set,” right? We KNOW what should be on there. (Frangione showed balls by putting nine ROSE-era tracks on the set vs. the three for BAND — with no “Picasso.”)

Having PURE McCARTNEY feature as many tunes from that instantly forgettable turd NEW as the masterpiece RAM is ridiculous, it’s a rewriting of history. (It’s McCartney and his people not getting what it’s all about or too scared to say “No man, THIS is what it’s all about. This isn’t as good as THAT — this AIN’T ‘pure.’)

Tom nailed it with the “life suite” from MEMORY. I said to Bill once that if McCartney ended his career with “Summer Of ’59/Ever Present Past/Vintage Clothes/That Was Me/The End Of The End” — he’d end up as strong as Dylan and Townshend. But he didn’t. It ends with “If you haven’t got a life/When you haven’t got a life” and that “band” with the hair-doos and sneakers and shit-eating grins tearing through it as though it’s actually NOT the dumbest dashed off garbage they’ve ever heard.

But if McCartney’s going to be playing “A Hard Days Night” at Giants Stadium (complete with the deafening synthetic digital cowbell and bongos) and follow that up with vomit like “Save Us” — he’s lost. Right there — placing those two songs together proves he’s incapable of making artistic decisions regarding his music. He cannot gauge where he’s been in regards to where he is. Nor can the people who travel to the same show after show (after show after show after show) and brag and cry about it. No one is discerning as Beatledom rounds third.

Hey, putting a cool photo from the summer of ’71 would be amazing if it was all shit-hot top drawer rock and pop. Regardless of it being a single or a hit or his latest release — or whatever. And the fact remains that collections like this are a moot point. Who really is going to buy it. I never would. Not in 2016 when I’m 44.

Put that cover on a comp with stuff like “Momma Miss America,” “Soily ’74,” “A Love For You,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “Mumbo,” the full-length “Feel The Sun,” “Leave It,” “This One,” “Dear Boy,” “Broomstick,” “I Got Stung,” “To You” — use the opportunity to put out a comp that educates and turns NEW people on — (that gets songs into soundtracks, MPL!!!!! REAL $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$). This box isn’t anything but yet another too expensive bulky thing sold on a Beatlefest table next to the schmatas and clocks.

Tom included some real dogs on this — “Twice In A Lifetime”??? “In Liverpool??????????” Uch. . . .

Was curious why he chose the decent (albeit vaguely reminiscent of about 16 other songs) “Dance ‘Til We’re High” rather than majestic and life affirming “Sing The Changes” — either the standard track or acoustic remix which is also a gem.

McCartney could’ve finally used that clueless website of his to have the global fans vote for the tracklisting — with the “bonus” disc featuring choice cuts from the live sets.

Regardless of the outcome, I would’ve closed each disc with a killer Easter egg solo demo — “One And One Is Two,” “World Without Love,” “Celebration ’78,” “Goodbye,” “On The Wings Of A Nightingale,” and “The Lovers That Never Were.”

Hey Howie – some very good points in there (and yes – my first pass had a few of the ones you suggested that unfortunately got cut). LOVED (loved-loved-loved) your idea about the fans voting. Cheers – TF

Wow, at last a McCartney fan who speaks his mind! What a breath of fresh air. Though I wouldn’t go as far as calling NEW a turd (since this one has been polished 😛 ) but I praise your “McCartney is incapable of making artistic decisions regarding his music. He cannot gauge where he’s been in regards to where he is. Nor can the people who travel to the same show after show (after show after show after show) and brag and cry about it.” 🙂

Well, just to say a few things…”New” is a great album you all can take “Ram” home and i keep “New” with me,and “Red Rose..”,and “Driving Rain” you all can take the two home….but i understand when is said that he ends his life work with “Memory almost full” gracefully than with “New” and i agre…the things is i am wanting for the new album and we talk that later!How we talk about hits and don´t put “Mrs Vanderbilt!?”a hit is some eurepean countrys Spain,Italy,Belgium….And the B-side from “let em in” is better than half of all b-sides from Macca!but in general a good work!

A retrospective collection ( yet another one) is what artist do. What about a release featuring Waterspout, Return to Pepperland, Lindiana, and a whole slew of Maaca magic that have never seen the light of day? I put this comment on Macca ‘ website but it was immediately taken off by the powers that be. Don’t we already have Paul’s greatest hits, Wingspan, and now this? Come on Paul, you can even name a collection of unreleased material as ” Pizza ‘ and Fairy Tales “, a wink and a nod to the good Dr Winston O Boogie…

It’s incredible the body of work he has, particularly after his ‘renaissance’ following The Beatles Anthology work. When I heard of the upcoming release I was very intrigued by what he’d pick. I’m a massive fan and of course have all of the songs so don’t need to buy the set, but my thinking is if I was to ‘introduce’ (is that possible? To introduce Sir Paul?) McCartney to my friends I’d immediately add to your top 100 the following:
Monkberry Moon Delight, Some People Never Know, Tomorrow, When The Night, Ballroom Dancing, Figure Of Eight, Mistress and Maid, Golden Earth Girl (stunning), Brown Eyed Handsome Man (cover), No Other Baby (cover), Maybe I’m Amazed (Back in the US performance), Your Loving Flame, (I Want To) Come Home…. ah too many but they may be essential for mine! 🙂

I would strongly recommend the studio version of Maybe I’m Amazed over the live version. Paul playing all of instruments himself adds a tremendous amount to the feel of the recording. His vocal is also more soulful and definitely superior on the original album track.

Tom, great idea. But even with 100 tracks it is hard to compress 45 years of a prolific post-Beatles career. I agree with Wally, this box set will out 2 months before the Chicago Fest and a late night panel discussion on Friday night should definitely be on the agenda! My thoughts on “Pure McCartney”:
1) Long overdue overview box set of Paul’s career is needed. MPL missed the box set craze 20 years ago so better late than never. 15 years since “Wingspan” and that covered up to
1984 (like “All The Best”). This picks up with the 31 years of music that has happened since!
2) No excuse that no tracks from “Flowers in the Dirt” are not included. I don’t care if it is the next Archive reissue. “My Brave Face” and “Put It There” at the very least belong! I have no problem with no tracks from “Driving Rain”, “Choba B CCCP”, or “Run Devil Run” even though “Lonely Road” and “Try Not To Cry” (both singles) would have been nice.
3) I feel the packaging looks great. However from the pics on Amazon, it seems it will be a box similar to the “NEW” deluxe edition as opposed to a huge Archive Collection box. The cover pic is awesome as well!
4) As much as I would like some rarities thrown in (“Cage”, “Waterspout”, “Tragedy” etc) that is not what this set is trying to be. That “Paul Rarities” box is a whole other beast that hopefully one day will come out. This set is a 45 year solo career retrospective with hits and “deep tracks” from 1970-2015. I think that is the intention of this box.
5) I feel they got about 85% of the songs right. Not bad for hundreds in a 45 year post Beatles career. Like Tom, I feel though that too many singles are missing. Top 40 hits like “Give Ireland Back To The Irish”, “Helen Wheels”, “Letting Go”, “Girls School”, “London Town”, “I’ve Had Enough”, “Getting Closer”, “Take It Away”, “So Bad”, “Spies Like Us”, “My Brave Face”, “Young Boy” along with deep cuts like “Rockestra Theme”, “Little Lamb Dragonfly”, “BlueBird” , “Friends To Go” etc. belong. Some tracks like “Bip Bop” and “Girlfriend” don’t belong (also did not belong on “Wingspan”).

6) Tom love your list but I think the B-Sides and rarities for another Paul box and definitely need more from “BOTR”…

Thanks Jer. As suspected, EVERYONE has a “how about this instead of that” suggestion (or two, or three, or ….) but importantly, you point out that there really isn’t a good post-Beatles retrospective on him. The lesson here: 67 tracks surely isn’t enough real estate. Cheers – TF

Hi Peter – “Mary” was a top-10 hit in the UK, and top-30 here in America. Doesn’t make it a “better” song than “1985”, but I thought the set should have all the hits, hence its inclusion. Same goes for “Ebony & Ivory” (his biggest post-Beatles hit) and “Wonderful Christmastime” (a UK top-10, and – like it or not – a perennial on the dial every holiday season. Clearly not on some folks “favorites” lists, but the aim here was to get all the hits AND then some … thanks for checking in. Peace – TF

Tom I would have definitely bought this line-up. Love the first CD especially – just made a playlist. I think that ‘Great Day’ was worthy of inclusion. It got a ton of airplay on some car commercial (that’s where I first heard it) and hearkens back to the classic McCartney album sound. Nevertheless, a well thought out song list. Kudos.

Tom said it best, it is a 45 year embarrassment of riches. And regardless of what we think of which songs are included or not, Paul/MPL/Concord music is loving all the attention online that the fans and media have given this collection. If we did not care so passionately that it would be a “who cares” package instead of one that has garnered a lot of attention in the Beatles/Solo Beatles Fandom!

Nice to see many “more obscure” titles pop up on these lists. Some b-sides and bonus tracks have always been among Sir P.’s best work. “All My Trials” is almost unknown. Is there a good recording of the performance of “Ebony & Ivory” performed for the Obamas? It was up on YouTube and arguably far superior to the Tug Of War track. But what about a compilation that did also look at the (by now considerable) Classical work, the earlier Fireman projects, Twin Freaks, or Liverpool Sound Collage? And I have always liked “Love In The Open Air” from the The Family Way collaboration with George Martin from 1967, a selection of which would predate “Come And Get It”, and might make a grand opening track. Paul’s music has always been more than just pop and rock songs and a true overview of his solo career should show its breadth and depth. When asked about Paul’s greatest melody, Elvis Costello told Rolling Stone it was “Gratia” from Ecce Cor Meum. Keep the faith. His best might yet be to come.

I think this whole topic only illustrates what makes the solo work of The Beatles so interesting. The Beatles recorded legacy is what is really pure, in that we mostly agree on it’s brilliance. But the solo material offers four forks in the road of opinion. When I was 14 (I’m now 42), I made a list of all the brilliant McCartney songs (both Beatles and solo). My close friend (also a Beatles freak) reviewed the list and mostly skipped past the Beatles era stuff, because he knew he’d agree with it all. But, once we got into the solo years, we disagreed wildly. Just because I called “Treat her Gently” a masterpiece didn’t mean that he did. My friend and I are still disagreeing all these years later, and it’s neat to see that we are not alone. 🙂

Creating 100 songs to represent McCartney solo isn’t easy. If you put all the hits, you end up with “Give Ireland Back to the Irish, which while technically a hit (despite that I never heard it play on the radio while growing up in the 70s and 80s), is more of a curiosity with historical value. But, weighed against Paul’s standard of songwriting, it’s nothing I’d want to include if I had 150 spots to fill. So, to each his/her own. A good rule of thumb when making a fantasy compilation might be, what the 100 songs that best represent Paul, with each one having to be something you’d be comfortable playing to a non-fan. Just food for thought. Thanks for the conversation, Tom!

Unfortunately, the 5-disc 100-track set is not the one that will be coming out; it was a compilation I conjured up in response to the 4-disc 67-track version that will be coming out soon, which I (and many McCartney fans) believe was inadequate to represent his post-Beatles career. – Tom

I just saw on Amazon and on another Beatles fans blog that each of the 4 CD’s clocks in no where near the 78-80 minute max per CD. As stated earlier, I am looking forward to the release a month from now, but don’t understand that when Beatles/Paul fandom is in an uproar over song choice, that it looks like they could have squeezed in another 40 minutes or so onto the 4 CD’s total. It seems each CD clocks in around 64-70 minutes each.That would have filled a lot of song gaps and maybe left some room for a rarity or two? 3 months from now I know this will be oft-discussed at the Fest at the Hyatt O’Hare with a drink in hand!

All too true Jer. This release is flawed on so many levels, I’m afraid. Now add (basically) “giving fans 3 and a half discs worth of material spread over 4 discs” to the list. We did a major panel on this at the NY Fest last month, and you can bet it’ll be a topic for debate in Chicago. Bottom line: McCartney is due for a release like this.

Just not “this”.

In other causes for hope, he’s tagging Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” on to “Hi Hi Hi” in the setlist. Let’s hope he keeps that in there.

Hi Tom, just picked up on this due to Something About The Beatles podcast. I was looking to see if someone had put this together as a playlist on Spotify, and they haven’t… so I just have. Some songs aren’t there (Give Ireland Back, Mary had a little lamb) and there’s a couple of minor amendments, for instance the studio Vanilla Sky isn’t there so I’ve gone with the live version.

Just search The Real Pure McCartney and it should come up. If I’ve made any mistakes let me know.